Francisco and Saimon huddled together like two boys having a sleepover who were watching a scary movie. A movie they were not supposed to watch. A movie that if their parents knew about, would have had them both grounded.

  But this was no movie.

  This was a nightmare turned into a reality.

  Where once the zombies attacked in some manner of control, they now attacked anything and everything. Like mindless creatures, the effect was more haunting than before. Friend and foe alike were devoured by the creatures. Now, they not only attacked to kill, but they attacked to eat.

  Francisco watched one of Mithran’s friends get taken down and his guts ripped open. He screamed in agony while the zombie ate his intestines.

  He looked to Saimon, “what are we going to do?” But as he finished the question, the former mercenary leader pushed him into the path of a trio of zombies who jumped on his back and brought him down to the floor.

  “Sorry my man,” said Saimon. “But it’s a zombie-eat-zombie world, and my ass is not getting eaten for no one. You looked cute in that dress, though, and thanks for being a distraction.”

  Francisco watched in horror as Saimon bolted for the door. The mercenary leader stopped under the doorway and smashed his axe into the timber frame above his head repeatedly until it gave way with a heavy groan.

  “You dick!”

  Saimon looked his way. “Sorry, dude, but I can’t have these zombies escaping. Better to be safe than sorry. Think of the kids.”

  “Fuck the kids. I’m only worried about my ass—” But whatever else Francisco was going to say was lost to the final sound of an axe splitting the supporting timber above the door in two. The whole thing gave way as Saimon leapt to safety out the door, blocking the only path of escape with burning timber.

  ********

  Isaac watched as a...bearman, stumbled out of the burning building, leaving a descending array of burning timber behind him.

  The timber blocked the only exit. Francisco was still inside.

  Shit.

  Isaac could feel Felicity’s unease from the shadows. He sent a reassuring look her way before he allowed the newcomer to make his way towards him. Katana still on shoulder, he moved towards his new foe.

  The newcomer stopped dead in his tracks. “Shit. It’s you.”

  Isaac nodded grimly. “You know who I am, good. Saves time on the introductions.”

  “I only know you by reputation. Hell, half The Other Side knows your face after the stunt you pulled in the Cloudwalker Islands. I’m the least of your worries.”

  Isaac pulled a face and went to ask a question, but the newcomer cut him off.

  “Look, like I told big boy inside. This is just business for us. You have a bounty on your head; we aim to collect. I can’t say the same for other parties involved, but this is not personal.”

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  “Other parties?”

  The bearman laughed. “You really have no idea how many people you have royally pissed off, have you?” He laughed harder at Isaac’s blank expression. “You have made enemies of Kings—empires—nations. Everyone from—you know what, rather than me spoil the surprise, I’ll let you find out for yourself.”

  “Thanks for the heads-up. Regards my friend...who you left inside...” Isaac let the sentence hang.

  The manbear—thing fretted in front of him as he looked over his shoulder at the burning wreckage. “None of this is personal.”

  “Hard for me to accept that when you left my friend inside to die.”

  The bearman shrugged. “Well, how about this? You move out of the way and allow me to pass, and you can go right in and save your friend.” Isaac said nothing. “Look, the longer you just stand there, the less likely you are to save him.”

  Isaac scratched his chin; the stubble grown on it had become irritating.

  Bearman sidestepped from side to side. The crackling of the fire had become a roar. “Look, are you just going to stand there all day?”

  Although the roar from the fire was loud, the tapping of Isaac’s katana against his shoulder was deafening.

  “What the fuck do you want from me?!” The words were shouted in frustration as Isaac walked forward. Bearman took a step back in hesitation, but the flames dancing at his back pushed him forward with a roar. Axe swinging for Isaac’s head, Isaac dipped out of the way an inch and slashed forward, striking his opponent from right shoulder to left hip.

  Isaac continued walking forward even as his foe collapsed in two halves behind him.

  He wiped his blade clean and placed it in his sheath as he folded his arms and waited. He didn’t have to wait long as a window to his left smashed outwards in a thousand fragments, before a hulking form shot through the gap created and landed in a tuck and roll in the grass.

  “I--” a coughing fit took hold of the person, as they slapped their chest. “I--“ more coughing followed by a long wheeze. “Shit, the last time I had that much smoke in my lungs was when I dated these twins who smoked so much of the good stuff, I was higher than giraffe's pussy.”

  Isaac walked forward and offered a hand.

  Francisco grabbed it and pulled himself up as Felicity and Redd emerged from the shadows. “Anyone else inside?” asked Isaac.

  “Nothing but zombies and a few other dickheads,” said Francisco, “but their fates are already sealed.”

  Redd didn’t look convinced. “This is The Other Side mate, I wouldn’t take anything for—“

  An explosion from the building shot flames through the roof, forcing them back. A billow of black smoke rolled out from the busted window Francisco had come out of.

  “You were saying?” asked Francisco.

  Redd shrugged but still did not look convinced. “If any fucker comes back for revenge, then on your head be it.”

  “If anyone comes after us in any way,” said Francisco, drawing out the last word, “then I will wear whatever stupid dress or outfit you want me to wear for a full twenty-four hours.”

  Redd rubbed his paw-like hands together. “Deal.”

  A frenzied growl sounded in the bushes before a zombie crawled out of the undergrowth. Lower body missing, it crawled towards the group with the dogged determination of a ticket inspector.

  Flic called her bow to hand and fired an arrow. It struck the thing between the eyes before black webbing wrapped around the head and crushed it like a boa constrictor. The sound of bones grinding and popping filled the air before a loud crunch signalled the end.

  “Come on,” she said, “let’s get out of here. Zombies give me the creeps. Never liked them in movies back home and never thought I would have to encounter them here.”

  “This is the--”

  “The Other Side,” said Flic, cutting Redd off. “Yeah—yeah. I get it. The place where everything from Bigfoot to dragons exist. But by that as it may, I don’t want to hang around here a moment longer before I get bitten by one and get turned.”

  Francisco looked to them, panicked, before he checked his body frantically. “Someone check my body! Check my body. I may have been bitten. I may have been bitten. Because I’m so muscular and tough, I wouldn’t have felt it, but that doesn’t mean I wasn’t bitten. For the love of everything that is holy check me. I’m too beautiful to turn into a zombie.”

  Isaac, Felicity and Redd shared a look before they turned on their heels and walked away.

  “Hey! You fuckers! This is serious. If I turn, then none of you are safe. None of you! Do you hear me?”

  “You may want to check that nub between your legs,” called Flic, over her shoulder. “If anything has bitten that, it’ll be hard to tell. I doubt you’ll even be able to see any bite marks.”

  The other two laughed while Francisco’s cries of anguished carried on the breeze.